When In Doubt, Run Home
by Sonny at Twilight
Summary: Sequel to It's Not You, It's My Family. Sonny must choose between returning to So Random, and staying with Mackenzie Falls. But is Sonny and Chad's relationship going to be torn apart no matter what her decision is? xPERMANENT HIATUSx
1. Sorry, Sonny, Honey

**Yay! Sequel to the sequel time! So exciting right? I know! Okee-dokee, this chapter is kind of half filler, half important. There's definitely more drama and important stuff in chapter two but it's late at night-er... early in the morning, and I don't know when I'll have chapter two finished, but it's coming soon. Anyways, enjoy. Oh, but just to add, since the center of all this drama is on what Sonny chooses, this is _all _going to be in Sonny's point of view. 'Kay? 'Kay. :) Disclaimer: I don't own Sonny with a Chance. **

Chapter One: Sorry, Sonny, Honey

**Sonny's Point of View**

I seriously doubt anyone has ever said this before, but I am about to. Ready? _I hate choices_. Yep, it's true. I never used to. But now, I think I have pretty good reason to. Let me explain. But to do that, we have to go back to a little while ago.

You see, just a short time ago, it came out that Portlyn and Angela actually gave my friends at _So Random_ a letter saying I was using them the whole time I was on the show, and after I chose Chad over them, it "confirmed" things for them. And once I told them that that was all a big lie everything was all hunky-dory for us all as friends, and they actually wanted me to come back to _So Random_. Great, right? Wrong.

Because at that point, I was already fitting in just fine as _Mackenzie Falls_' newest regular cast member. I was making new friends, Chad and I were always together, everything was going swell. The problem in this: I missed making people laugh.

The problem in working with _So Random_: I never felt like I fit in there, and then when I was starting to, they kicked me off.

Bigger problem: I had two shows and two sets of friends both fighting for me to pick them. Plus, my annoyingly understanding boyfriend who says he's not taking sides, even though it's obvious whose side he's fighting for the most. So now I have a question for you. How in the heck would you decide because my brain is like, dying from all of the hours I've spent agonizing over this situation. And it's only been one night. Oh boy…

* * *

I was walking through the halls of the studio, ready to go home for the day, at last. Yesterday had been the day when all my "choice problems" started, and now I just wanted to go home and get my mind off of it all.

I cringed slightly when I saw my friends from _So Random_ walking down the hall towards me. Maybe they hadn't-

"Hey, Sonny!" Grady called out.

Too late; they'd seen me. It wasn't that I didn't love them, it was just that, I had an awful feeling one of the first topics up for discussion would be about whether or not I was coming back to _So Random_.

I smiled warmly at all of them and waved with the hand that wasn't holding my bottle of water. "Hey, guys… What's up?"

"Oh, nothing…" Grady looked around the hallway innocently in a way that confirmed my fears of the next subject.

"So…" Tawni shifted her bright pink purse around on her left shoulder. "Are you coming back to _So Random_? Or are you staying at… 'the Falls'?"

I flexed my fingers nervously around my water bottle. "Well, to be honest I still haven't made my decision yet. But I will eventually…" I trailed off, looking at their expressions. They all seemed pretty calm about it all. So far, so great, I guess. (Some people say "so far, so good," but I prefer saying "great" because it's so much more positive)

"But how can you _not_ want to come right back to _So Random_?" Zora asked, her pink, blue, and green tinged braids swinging with her violent head movements.

"Zora!" Tawni snapped.

"Well, I know it's hard to believe, but the people over at _Mackenzie Falls_ are actually really, really nice once you get to know them." I frowned slightly. "Well except for Portlyn… But other than her, everyone's super nice, and they're all my friends too." I grinned again for emphasis and raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"Do you like them better than us?" Nico asked bluntly.

"Because we're really sorry about kicking you off in the first place," Tawni said, somewhat pleadingly. Pretty unusual behavior for her… Maybe I'd finally cracked her shell.

I smiled softly. "I know, and I forgive you-all of you. And of course I don't like them more than my good buddies at _So Random_." My brown eyes fell to the floor for a second before refocusing on the faces of my old friends. "That's what's so hard about choosing whether or not to rejoin you guys. I hope you understand."

"Of course we do. Don't we guys?" Tawni turned to look at the other three.

"Definitely."

"Sure do."

"Uh-huh."

"Good. Well, I've uh, got to get home." I pointed my thumb to my right towards the exit that led into the main parking lot.

"Leaving so soon?" Nico questioned.

"Uh, yeah… Chris, our director, let us off early for the day." I shrugged my shoulders and smiled awkwardly. Afterwards, I tugged on the bottom of my green t-shirt. It had the outline of a cow on the front in white. Underneath that was something Lucy, a couple of my other friends, and I used to say a lot. It said: "It's not over until the cows come home." We seriously would say that all the time and start cracking up. Don't ask.

As much as I loved it though, I'd been wearing a black hoodie over it all day just in case the people at _Mackenzie Falls_ didn't get it. The only people who really understood my sense of humor were my mom, my friends at _So Random_, and my whole extended family on both of my parent's sides. Chad sort of did… Or at least, he tried to.

"Great…" Grady contributed to the now-uncomfortable conversation.

"So, I'll just… go…" I took a tiny sidestep to the door.

"Okay, bye." Tawni waved a little.

"Bye," the rest of them said.

I walked to the door and pulled on the handle, but the door stuck in place. My eyes drifted to the "push" sign hanging right next to the door. Whoops. This time I pushed against the door and had more success, actually opening the door and getting out into the parking lot.

As I walked to my old truck parked near the back by a cluster of planted trees and grass, I finally noticed the stranglehold I had on my water bottle and eased it up a bit. My fingers were numb from the cold the bottle was radiating. I shifted it to my other hand right as I reached my truck.

Oh, what a day. No revelation had come to me during the day to help point me in the right direction to make me make the right choice. Absolutely nothing… Zippo, zilch, nada, zero, nil, naught… I was stuck between a rock and a hard place…

_**Later when I finally got home…**_

"Hey, mom!" I called out, closing the door behind me with my foot.

"Hi, sweetie! You're home a little early, aren't you?" my mother, Connie Munroe, asked from the direction of our living room.

Walking down the short hallway and into the living room, I discovered my mom playing this arcade style game on the computer called, "Super Granny 3." Trust me when I say everyone in my family is just a big kid.

"Yeah, Chris let us go early." I sank into the couch a few feet away from the computer desk. "Mom…?"

"Yes?" Her tone made it obvious she was only half here, but I decided to ask for help anyway.

"What am I supposed to do about choosing between _So Random_ and _Mackenzie Falls_? I mean, it's like choosing between two sets of friends. Not to mention the fact that the decision I make could drastically affect the rest of my acting career." I groaned and looked at the ceiling. "What do I do?"

"Well honey, you know I can't choose for you. But you know that I'll support you no matter what your decision is." She very clearly stopped herself from cussing out loud when granny got mauled by the onscreen pink poodle.

"Mom, that's not helpful. Why can't you ever be the overly-controlling parent and tell me what to do all the time? Like now would be a great time to start. So go ahead. Tell me which show I'm choosing whether I like it or not, because you're the adult and I'm the teenager," I used my deeper voice for the last part when I spoke.

"But what kind of a mother would I be if made all of the important decisions for you?" she asked absentmindedly.

"A nice one," I said, point blank.

"Sorry, Sonny, honey. This one's up to you." My mom finally turned around in the swivel chair as soon as the words "game over" flashed across the screen.

"But I don't know what to do…" I moaned.

"You're smart, you'll figure it out. But just remember to choose what makes _you_ happy, and what's best for _you_, and not just what makes everyone else happy," she reminded me in her motherly voice. My mom swiveled back around and eagerly started all over again with her game.

I sighed, my lips twisting into a distorted frown and pout combo. "Thanks mom…" _I think we both know though that it's just a smidgeon more complicated than _that_, mom_, I huffily thought before heaving myself off the couch and shutting myself up in my room. My mom didn't even look up from the computer.

I flopped down onto my bed and buried my face in my pillow. I was exhausted from next-to-no sleep the night before. I started drifting in and out of consciousness before I finally fell asleep.

During my catch-up sleep, I began having a dream.

I was in a giant grassy field with my friends from _So Random_ and _Mackenzie Falls_ with me. Except that my friends from _So Random_ were on my right side, and my other friends from _Mackenzie Falls_ were on my left side, with me as the divider between them.

Everything was fine until both groups started each tugging on an arm like I was a practically indestructible chew toy.

"Hey stop it! Just stop fighting!" I protested, still being shuffled back and forth. "I love you all, just stop it! I'm not going to choose if you keep pulling on me! Ouch!"

They all kept pulling on my arms and yelling at each other, pretty much ignoring me.

Then Lucy, my old friend from Wisconsin, appeared out of nowhere and miraculously, my arms were suddenly free from tugging hands and mean friends. Lucy took my hand with a smile and led me away from the field to my home.

I woke up to the sound of Dr. Phil's theme song blasting from the TV in the living room (my mom's doing) before dream-me could figure out where "home" was.

I lifted my head from the pillow and pushed my rumpled bangs back from my forehead. Great… Now even my dreams were going to be complicated…

**Okay, slow-ish start, I know, but still, what'd you think? Tell me, tell me, tell me... please?  
On a different note, although there is going to be a ton of drama for Sonny, there's still going to be plenty of Chad in here, just not quite as much as the other two stories before this. There's a little romance, but mostly just drama, drama, drama. And indecision...  
Anyway, I did something I've never actually done for one of my stories before: I created an outline. Like, for each chapter too. Usually I just come up with the general plot, but never set any plans for the actual chapters, and I did this time and found it extremely helpful. Not done with it yet. I've got it planned out up to chapter eleven, and trust me, there is a _lot _of drama (there's that word again!) in this. And a bit of a plot twist, and tons of other slightly unexpected things. I think it'll be a long-ish story this time. Yay!  
Also, I actually don't even know what decision Sonny's going to make yet, so if any of you would like to tell me who you think Sonny should choose, feel free. In fact, I'd love it if you did. Now obviously there's still more important details and arguments coming later that could affect your decision, so keep telling me which show Sonny should stay with/rejoin.  
Okay, I think that's just about it. I'll probably update this one more time and then update the 100 word challenge and _It's Harder Than It Looks. _Alright, have a good day and be sure to review and look for chapter two, coming soon. Bye! :)**


	2. Still Haven't Gone Public Yet

**Alright, here is chapter two. In this one, there will be more Sonny and Chad (yay!) and a little bit of decision drama. Also, not to spoil anything, but there is one tiny detail in this chapter that _seems_ insignificant to any future happenings, when really, it's super duper important. See if you can guess what it is and then remember it, 'cause we've got a long way to go with this. Okay, enjoy. :)**

Chapter Two: Still Haven't Gone Public Yet

"So are you going to break up with him? I mean, Mackenzie didn't _really_ kiss Asia. So are you?" Portlyn/Lisi prompted. She adjusted the blue and green tie hanging loosely around her neck with one hand and popped yet another piece of grape bubblegum into her mouth with the other.

My eyes were focused solely on Chad across the hall while I thought over my options _again_. His back was turned to me and he was talking to Tanner.

I really _loved_ _So Random_. But I also was really starting to love _Mackenzie Falls_. I liked portraying a more realistic character that wasn't one-sided and goes to a restaurant with service so fast, you end up getting pelted with chicken bits. Not that I didn't love doing that, but I liked doing things that were different from that too. But my life was not Hannah Montana's, and I couldn't have the best of both worlds. I would have to choose.

"Katie?" I was vaguely aware of Portlyn/Lisi waving her hand in front of my face. "Hello? Katie- okay, I cannot work with this! Chris!" she shrieked.

"Cut!" Chris groaned. "Sonny!"

I jerked my head to look at Chris, finally awake from my daydreams. "What, what, what'd I miss?"

Chris massaged his forehead with his long fingers. "Sonny, Sonny, Sonny, where is your head today? Katie should not be staring at Mackenzie like that after she caught him kissing Asia! She shouldn't be looking at him at all! And besides that, even, you're missing your lines." Chris took a deep breath and drank a long sip of coffee from a mug that said "World's Best Director" on the side.

I guiltily ran a hand through my hair. "Sorry, I guess I'm just having a hard time concentrating. Can I take five?"

"Please. Take ten," Chris practically begged.

"Okay." I walked off the school set and met up with Chad by the chocolate fountain.

"Hey," Chad greeted.

"Hi," I said dejectedly.

"So, were you captivated by my hair or by how good I look in this new blazer?" Chad asked, popping the collar of his blazer cockily.

I laughed weakly.

"Still thinking about choices and such?"

"Yeah… But let's not talk about that now." I stuck a finger under the flow of melted chocolate and put my chocolate covered finger in my mouth.

Chad just looked at me with a look of partial disgust and partial amusement.

"What?" I asked innocently around my finger.

He shook his head. "Nothing." He laughed shortly. "Uh… so, I got you a present."

I wiped my finger off on a nearby napkin. "You did? Why?"

"Just because. I didn't have time to wrap it, although I did tie a bow around it." Chad pulled a cell phone with a big purple ribbon tied around the center.

"You got me a cell phone? Chad, you know I don't like it when you get me fancy gifts," I complained.

Chad ignored me and placed the phone in my hand. "And you know I never listen when you tell me not to get you gifts. And it's not like it's that fancy. Besides, I wanted to cheer you up."

I smiled a little and carefully pulled the silky, purple ribbon off with one hand.

"Now I know that you can't buy happiness and that this won't fix any of your problems… but I thought it might cheer you up."

"It did. Thank you. I'll have to remember to put all my old numbers in this soon because I always mix up the last two digits of your phone number." I laughed.

Chad acted offended. "You can't even remember your own boyfriend's number? Pitiful."

"Well we can't all be perfect," I murmured, leaning closer to him.

"True…" He leaned down and our lips were just about to make contact and-

"Hey guys!" Tanner yelled, casually stepping between us. He took the phone out of my hands and looked at it, ignoring my glare. "Hey, cool phone. New?"

"Tanner, was there something you needed?" Chad asked, clearly aggravated.

"There was actually. Chris needs us for our scene." Tanner must've found the camera feature because he held the camera up to the two of us and a flash came off of the phone. "Hey, you two look cute together."

"Thank you, now can I have my phone back?" I asked, straining to reach around him and get my gift back.

Tanner held it out for me with a smirk and I snatched it away before he could find a recording feature. "You guys still haven't gone public yet have you?"

I straightened the blue and green headband out on my head and cleared my throat. "No, and we don't plan to until it's absolutely necessary."

"Okay…" Tanner said, drawing out the word.

Chad rolled his eyes and dragged Tanner away by the shoulder. "Dude, don't stress her out more, okay? Jeez."

"I can still hear you!" I called out to him. "And don't talk about me like I'm on the verge of a breakdown!"

"Enjoy your phone!" was all Chad called back.

I laughed and was about to start entering my friends' numbers into the phone when Lucas and Joanna appeared from behind one of the piles of boxes being used as props for the moving scene.

"Ah!" I yelled, dropping my phone into a bowl of barbeque Lays. "You guys scared me, what were you doing back there?"

Joanna smiled cunningly. "Same thing you and Chad were trying to do."

I felt my eyes grow a little wider. "You two are dating?" I looked at Lucas who looked like he wished Joanna hadn't brought it up.

"You and Chad aren't the only ones good at keeping secrets." She shrugged it off and took a handful of chips out of the clear plastic bowl and wound up with two chips and my phone. The chips went into her mouth and my phone got a napkin hastily brushed across the front. "I believe this is yours." Joanna held it out for me.

"Thanks."

"So, listen, we didn't jump out from the boxes just to reveal Hollywood dirt on ourselves," Joanna said conversationally, grabbing more chips and offering some to Lucas.

"Okay, well let's hear the rest." I looked at the two of them expectantly and brushed the excess crumbs off my phone.

Joanna looked to Lucas to start.

Lucas shoved his hands in the pockets of his khaki uniform pants for _Mackenzie Falls_. "Well we thought we'd try to remind you of some important points to remember when you make your decision to leave or stay with us."

My face fell. I hadn't thought about that situation for a record four minutes until they brought it up again. "Okay, let's hear it then," I said in an emotionless voice.

"Well, for starters, your so-called 'friends' at _So Random_ kicked you off the show without even talking to you and with hardly any proof at all that you did anything to them. We _Mackenzie Falls_ kids would _never_ do that to you." Joanna widened her eyes and nodded her head for emphasis. "And you know, I think even Portlyn could learn to love you…"

I rubbed my left arm and shifted my weight from my left foot to my right. I could tell my expression was doubtful because Joanna rushed to continue on.

"And… you said so yourself that they always made you feel insignificant over there," Joanna stated, placing one hand on her left hip.

"I said I felt that in the beginning…" I defended.

"Alright, but you _did_ say that you never felt like you fit in with your _So Random_ friends," Lucas pointed out.

Joanna nodded in agreement.

I laughed nervously. "Umm, thanks for the help guys… Uh, you know what? I really should go… go over my lines now." My excuse was lame but I needed a way out and if anything, they'd take the hint and go.

Joanna smiled understandingly. "Gotcha… See you at lunch. Come on, Lucas." Joanna took his hand and they walked off towards the meditation room. A room I have still yet to be in again since the first day…

_**Lunchtime… **_

"Well, that was an interesting episode," I commented as Chad and I walked to the Commissary. We were running a little late to lunch so everyone else was already eating.

"What makes you say that?" Chad questioned.

"Katie and Mackenzie broke up and made up twice in an hour-long episode and Lisi ran away from home to be on Broadway." I raised an eyebrow. "You're honestly telling me that you don't think that's a bit weird?"

"Yeah, but that's just how our show is." He shrugged.

I sighed. "They should've kept us as the writers."

"I know we were so much better."

"Yeah, we were." I agreed.

We both started laughing and walked into the Commissary.

Once we got our food from Brenda, we started for our usual table.

I pulled my chair out, prepared to sit down.

"Sonny!" I heard four voices call out to me from across the room.

I froze and swiveled my head to the direction of the voices. Oh no…

"Sonny, do want to sit with us today?" Tawni asked, pulling out the empty chair next to her.

My mouth opened to give them a gentle rejection… or maybe it was to accept their invitation… Either way, nothing made it out of my mouth. I looked desperately at my friends from _So Random_ to my friends from _Mackenzie Falls_. They were all staring at me, waiting for an answer.

"Sonny, who are you sitting with?" Samantha asked after swallowing a mouthful of shrimp.

I bit my lip and looked between the two again. The only thing that made it past my throat was a distressed, indecisive squeak before I pushed in my chair and ran out of the room.

Ugh! I couldn't take much more of all of this choosing. Didn't these people realize that?

The door opened up behind me and I knew who it was without having to turn around.

"This is ridiculous! I'm not eating in there again until this whole mess is cleared up! You can't make me," I said, vehemently.

"Yes, well perhaps finding somewhere else to eat is in order then," Chad suggested.

"Yeah, okay. Where should we go?"

"Well we could go to Subway and you can get that meatball thing again." Chad grimaced. "And I'll just get something with chicken this time."

"You said you liked it," I accused.

"I said it was okay, not that I ever wanted to eat it again." Chad pulled two pairs of dark sunglasses out of his blazer pocket and handed the more girly looking of the pair to me.

"Your loss." I shrugged nonchalantly and slipped the shades over my eyes. "So who's paying?"

"Sonny, really? We're still having this conversation?" Chad took my hand and started leading us towards the exit. "I'm the guy in the relationship and that means I pay for everything for the both of us. Get it?"

"But it feels like too much like a you-give-I-take kind of relationship when you always pay and give me new phones." That much was definitely true.

"But that's not how it really is. And besides, didn't we already agree that you're saving for college so it's okay for me to just go ahead and pay?"

"No, you came to that decision and I was forced to agree."

"So you admit you agree?" Chad smirked and opened the door to the parking lot.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine… I guess I agree."

Chad patted me on the head with his free hand, looking like he was trying not to laugh. "Good girl."

I opened my mouth and made it look like I was making a move to bite his hand. "Watch it, drama snob."

"Same to you, drama snob-ette." Chad put on his pair of sunglasses as we arrived at my truck, the only vehicle we could really drive around inconspicuously in public.

I narrowed my eyes and rested my hand on the driver's side door dandle. "'Drama snob-ette'?" I repeated. "Really, Chad?" I smirked.

"Yes, really. New word; just made it up. Nice, I know." Chad put his hand on top of mine like he was going to try to move my hand and keep me from driving my own car.

I looked from his hand and back to his face. "You're not driving. If I can't pay, you can't drive."

Chad laughed. "Relax, I was just going to open the door for you," he said, unconvincingly.

"Uh-huh…" I nodded my head and smiled, like I bought it.

Whether or not Chad was using this as a distraction to keep my mind off of my pending decision, it was working. I hadn't thought about it once since we started "arguing" over who got to pay.

It really took my mind off the obvious fact that things were only beginning to get complicated, and that this was only the beginning of the hurt feelings I'd be causing…

**A little bit of foresight at the end there (whoops, I just spoiled it. Oh well). Chapters four and five are when it really starts to get good, so bear with me with one more giving-you-information, building-up-to-the-drama chapter. Okay? Great. Tell me what you thought by hitting that poor little review button underneath this and telling me what you liked, loved, didn't like, thought was funny, etc., etc. I'll update soon-ish, 'cause I'll be a little busy for the next few days, but I will try my hardest to get chapters done. Thanks for reading and have a good Monday. :)**


	3. They're Bribes

**Okay so I just finished this today, and I **_**was**_** going to wait until June 18****th**** to update this (you'll find out why later) but then I was thinking it over again, and I decided not to for one reason. Actually, two reasons. Reason number one: I'm impatient. :) Reason number two: this is just another leading-up-to-the-drama chapter and I didn't want the first chapter I posted when I "officially" came back to be all blah and not exciting and filler-like. So there you go.  
****In other news, I'm thinking of changing my pen name. Actually, I'm not just thinking about, I'm going to. Now you're probably wondering why. Well, I'll tell you why. I don't really know. I'm just getting kind of sick of my old pen name. So I'm changing it tomorrow and you can just keep a look out for my old icon and my new pen name which will be, Sonny at Twilight. Yeah, it just puts together my two obsessions all into one name. **_**Twilight**_** and **_**Sonny with a Chance**_**. Yep. Anyway, enjoy. :)**

Chapter Three: They're Bribes

I flopped down on my back onto my couch positioned in the center of my dressing room. Staring up at the white ceiling, I wondered if this room that so many people had worked so hard to build and furnish just for me would end up going to waste.

A sigh escaped past my frown. The frown was starting to feel like a permanent fixture on my face as opposed to my signature smile.

Maybe it would be easier if I threw the two shows' names in a hat and picked one. But then what if I picked wrong? But which choice would really be wrong?

An incessant knocking on my yellow dressing room door brought me out of my deep, unhelpful thoughts.

Kicking my legs over the side of the couch, I sat up and walked to answer the door as opposed to just yelling "come in."

I opened the door and my friends from _So Random_ all smiled their "red carpet" smiles at me.

"Hey, guys…" I'll admit my tone was a little guarded because I wasn't sure how many more "important points" I could take from people today.

"Hey, Sonny," the four of them chorused.

"Can we come in?" Tawni asked, holding her grin in place.

"Right, sure, come in." I stepped to the side and let them all pass by me. "Uh, make yourselves at home."

"Oh, well this actually won't take too long," Nico assured me.

"Okay. Just… say what you need to say." Leaning back against the door, I craftily closed the door behind me to keep any sneaky friends of mine from a certain drama show from hearing this quick conversation.

"Well, we wanted to make your decision a little bit easier," Grady started.

The smile that lit up my face was real. "Really?" I asked hopefully. Were they going to say something reassuring like, "we really don't care who you choose." Or, "we would understand if you didn't come back."

"We talked it over with Marshall, and he would definitely get right on setting up your own dressing room if you came back to be on _So Random_ again," Tawni promised, holding her hands up in prayer position.

My smiled faded into what probably looked like a warped cross between an awkward grin and a devastated frown. "Oh… really…? That's… great…"

"And we would never kick you off like that again," Zora said, reassuringly, twirling a purple pigtail around her pinky finger.

"Which by the way, we're super duper sorry about."

Everyone in their cluster at the center of the room nodded vehemently, their separate apologies meshing together into undecipherable, remorseful chatter.

"And if it would help," Tawni rose her voice to be heard over the rest of them. "If it would help make up for what we did, we'd go on national, live TV and apologize to you and admit what we did. In fact, I think we'll do it anyway."

Wow… This was _so_ out of character for all of them and it was a little weird to listen to.

"Plus, if we may point out, you did originally come here to Hollywood to do comedy, not drama," Nico pointed out, with Grady nodding behind him.

"And we have no problem whatsoever with you dating Chad," Zora threw in.

"In fact…" Tawni cringed but quickly recovered. "Chad would be welcome anytime he wanted to sit with us at lunch or visit on set."

My jaw went slack and my brown eyes bugged out. "You guys are serious?" I questioned, disbelievingly.

"Absolutely," they all said in unison.

"Umm… wow, you guys, that's really nice of you," I said, only having to force my smile a little.

"Well we really want you to come back, Sonny," Nico said.

"Thanks… all of you… I'll definitely take it all into consideration, okay?" I said.

"Okay."

"Bye, Sonny."

"Bye."

"See ya."

I shut the door behind them as soon as they left and leaned my back against the door. Closing my eyes in despair, I slid down to the ground and brought my knees up to my chest.

Couldn't _anyone_ from either side be even _slightly_ mean to help with this? (Portlyn doesn't count because after awhile you learn to live with it) All of them were being _so _nice to me it was ridiculous.

It was times like these I wished I could jump into one of those commercials and take the "easy button" so that it could make the choice for me. I wished anyone else would make the choice for me, just so that I could say to the people who I didn't pick that it wasn't my fault.

But I supposed I didn't _really_ want to have someone choose for- Oh, who was I kidding? I desperately wanted to have someone tell me what to do for once.

_**Later…**_

"They ambushed you?" Chad raised an eyebrow and pulled me closer to him with his left arm while we walked back to the set.

"They didn't _ambush _me. They were just talking to me…" I said, defending my friends. I also put my right arm around his waist and leaned into him.

"I know, but…" Chad trailed off.

I smiled hopefully at him. "Were you about to tell me what to do? You want me to choose _Mackenzie Falls_, right? Alright, then, I choose _Mackenzie Falls_ since that's clearly what you want me to do." I shook my head once, causing my bangs to smack into my forehead and my headband slid slightly out of place.

Chad shook his head and smiled. "Actually I wasn't about to take sides. I was just about to say that you had heard their argument enough times and that you didn't need the added pressure." He smirked. "Sorry to disappoint you with my impassiveness to your dilemma."

I sighed. "Oh… Darn… I thought you had finally rethought the whole 'not taking sides' thing."

"In your dreams, Sunshine; I am completely neutral and will support whatever decision you make." Chad reached over with his other hand to straighten my headband for me.

"Ugh, you sound like my mom. Why can't you just tell me what show _you_ would like me working on the most?" I whined. The whining wouldn't help my case, but I was getting desperate with this. I had absolutely no clue who to choose, since no matter what, I'd end up hurting feelings, and possibly losing friendships…

Ignoring my question, Chad grimaced in disgust. "I sound like your mom?"

"Just when you go all 'I'll support your decision no matter what' on me… _Then_ you sound like my mom," I amended.

We turned the corner and walked onto the set, finding everyone congregated in the middle of the room, all sitting on black director's chairs.

Samantha spotted me and jumped down from the chair, walking over to meet us halfway. "Hey, guys," she greeted friendlily.

"Hi," I said with a smile.

Chad just looked wearily at her.

Samantha ignored him and grinned at me. "Hey, Sonny, do you mind if we talk to you for a second?"

"Samantha." Chad's tone was that of a warning.

"Chad this'll only take a minute," Samantha said briskly.

"Nope, her other friends just attacked her with this earlier. Sonny doesn't need this," Chad stated firmly.

I looked up at Chad and tried to lock eyes with him but he was still staring Samantha down. "Uh, yeah, _Sonny_ is still in the room, just in case some of you forgot."

"Chad we just want to talk to her really quickly, alright?" Samantha's words came out sounding pretty harsh.

In case you were wondering, Chad and Samantha do tend to disagree quite a lot. Not anything compared to Chad and I's verbal sparring matches but their personalities just didn't always mesh well.

"Well she doesn't want to hear it," Chad fought back.

"Yes, _she does_," Samantha argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

Rolling my eyes, I untangled my arm from around Chad and pinched him on the arm hard enough to get his attention.

"Ow! What was that for?"

I waved my hand in the air like I was waiting to be called on in Miss Bitterman's class. "Can't I have a say-so in this conversation at all?"

Chad patted my shoulder and put on a somewhat apologetic face. "Oh, of course you can."

"Thank you."

"Just not right now." Chad gently nudged me farther to the side and continued bickering with Samantha.

My mouth dropped open in shock and more irritation. Though it didn't happen _too _often, there were still times when the Chad I first met would make appearances when we were with the cast of _Mackenzie Falls_ and… well pretty much whenever we weren't alone, actually.

Determined and driven by the fact that I hate it when people try to speak for me and tell me what I can and can't listen to (especially when those people are not even my mom or authority figures), I managed to get in between Chad and Samantha to get them to stop shouting at each other.

"Excuse me, but I think I can make _this_ choice for myself!" I looked pointedly at Chad.

He shrugged sheepishly. "I was just trying to help. You keep saying you _want_ help…"

"Yes. Help with my _other_ decision. I'm still capable of deciding everything else for myself. And, to be honest, I don't think it'll hurt if I just listen for a few minutes."

Samantha smiled smugly over the top of my head, at Chad. "Thank you, _Sonny_."

Chad moved his hand like he was making a puppet talk and sneered mockingly at Samantha.

I pointed to one of the empty director chairs a few feet away. "Sit."

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly.

"Good." Smiling cheerfully, I gently pushed him towards the chairs.

Chad walked away and planted himself on the black director's chair that I think had his name on the back. He looked seriously at the rest of our friends who had their eyes on the two of us. "Just so you know, only she can do this to me, so don't get any ideas."

Tanner, Lucas, and Mike all looked away innocently in different directions, whistling as though they weren't thinking _anything_ of the sort.

Joanna rolled her eyes and stepped forward towards me. "Have a seat."

Taking a seat next to Chad, I waited patiently with my legs crossed for them to start and get it over with.

"Alright, so as you know, there's only about a month left of filming for the first half of the season, so you have that long to make the big decision," Joanna started off.

"Or you know you could make it sooner if you'd like," Mike hinted, "subtly."

I kept my eyes from rolling. _Be nice, Sonny, they're only trying to help_.

"_But_ if you don't, _that's fine_," Joanna amended, casually stepping on Mike's foot when she started pacing the room while she talked.

"Also," she continued. "These wouldn't be bribes, but-"

"They're bribes!" Portlyn called out as she strolled by the group with a script and a bottle of water in her hand.

Joanna gave Portlyn a "thanks a lot" look before resuming. "Anyway, if you stayed, we would…"

Alright, confession time: I only half-paid attention to the things-that-weren't-bribes that Joanna and everyone else were listing.

I think I caught something about getting me an episode or two that centered solely on Katie instead of Mackenzie and Katie, and also a promise that Tanner, Mike, Lucas, and Samantha would stop interrupting Chad and I when we were trying to have a moment alone (I had a feeling that wouldn't last long). There were other things too, I'm sure. I just couldn't really remember and it was probably best that I couldn't since it seemed like they were pulling out all the stops.

What I could take from that little conversation, though, was that they were really pushing for me to stay with them. And that almost made me cave… until I remembered how my friends from _So Random_ were also really fighting as well and just hadn't pulled out the _huge_ bribes like _Mackenzie Falls_ could.

"I'm sorry about all of that, Sonny," Chad said apologetically, brushing a piece of hair away from my face when the "presentation" was over.

"Chad, its fine. I told you it wasn't a big deal so it isn't a big deal." I was trying to reassure him but I didn't think it was working.

"Then why do you seem even more stressed out?" he inquired.

Nope, wasn't working. "I'm not," I said, laughing. He didn't need to know that I was already stressed out a little to begin with and that the presentation really didn't help or make it worse. To quote one of my favorite books, _Breaking Dawn_, "need to know." That was all Chad was getting. What he needed to know.

"I think you are."

"_I'm not_." I was starting to get exasperated now. I think I know my own feelings, thank you very much. And trying to understand that he was just trying to be nice by being an overprotective boyfriend was getting more and more difficult by the second.

"If you're sure," he said offhandedly.

"_I am_," I insisted, severely.

"Good."

"Good."

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Shut up." I stood up on my tiptoes to reach his level and pressed my lips against his before he could get another "fine" out, resting my hands on his cheeks. Chad relaxed into the kiss and leaned down so that my feet were flat on the ground again.

And just when we finally thought we were actually going to get some actual alone time which was becoming rarer and rarer…

"Oh, gross! My eyes are burning!" Tanner complained loudly.

I pulled away and whipped my head around in the direction of his voice.

"Jeez, get a room, would ya?" Tanner grabbed a smoothie off the table that we were standing by and ignored the two glares being shot his way. "Go swap spit somewhere else." He laughed and walked away, not looking the least bit guilty like he should've, considering the fact that he could've gotten a smoothie from practically anywhere in the room. Yep, that whole thing with everyone not disturbing us anymore was _so _never going to hold out for long.

"Well, that pretty much ruined the moment," I stated, annoyance laced into my tone once again.

"Yeah, it kind of did," Chad agreed. "Hey, what time is it?"

I chuckled a little. "Isn't that my line?"

"Usually, but unfortunately, I've got a family dinner thing tonight," he said, unenthusiastically. Understandable, considering the only other person in his family with a conscience seemed to be Michael, his older brother.

Raising my wrist up to my face, I checked the purple watch Chad himself had given me and told him it was almost 4:30.

Chad grimaced. "Great, I'm late. I've got to go. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too."

I nodded seriously and smiled. "Yeah, I know. I get that from your eyes."

Chad laughed and gave me a quick kiss on the lips before hurrying off the set and out of sight.

With a sigh, I turned away and picked up a smoothie, already feeling less-than-fine now that Chad was gone. Was that a sign that perhaps _Mackenzie Falls_ would be the best choice since I'd be with Chad all the time? But wait, _So Random_ said Chad could visit too. But would it be the same? But did it really matter in the long run? Ugh! Too much to think about!

Frustrated, I set down the smoothie, walked out off the set in the opposite direction Chad left and headed for my truck. We were done shooting for the day anyway.

_**A short, little drive home later…**_

Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I thought about all of the perks there would be to staying on _Mackenzie Falls_. The disadvantages also crossed my mind.

_Hmm… I wonder if _So Random_ would have more pros then _Mackenzie Falls_… _

Feeling hopeful for the first time in quite a while, I crawled off my bed and grabbed a sheet of lined paper and a blue pen.

I readjusted myself on top of the piles of messed up blankets and a small stuffed cow, and began writing down all of the benefits to working on both _So Random_ and _Mackenzie Falls_. On the same sheet, I also wrote all of the drawbacks to working on either show.

Once done, I held the paper out in front of me and tallied it up in my head.

I frowned and folded up the piece of paper and tossed it across the room, letting it fall three feet short of my desk and settle onto the purple and white throw rug.

It was a tie…

Sighing, I let myself fall onto my back with my head just barely a foot away from my pillow. I dragged the pillow closer and rested my head on it. And not caring that it was only 5:15 at night, I went to sleep, hoping to escape the reality of mine that really resembled a bad dream.

_**Forty minutes later…**_

My mom's voice calling out that she was home finally woke me up.

I called out a "hello" as I lazily sat up and stretched my arms above my head. I scooted over to the edge of the bed and hopped off before shuffling off to talk to my mom. Noting as I walked past my bookshelves that my stomach felt a bit off, I frowned unhappily and a little anxiously when I realized that this was the same feeling I got right before I had to do something difficult or that made me nervous.

_Well, that's not a good sign… If this really is subconscious nerves and not just sudden tummy issues, then my problem is about to get a whole lot worse…_

**And that was the incredibly long chapter three. Yay. Not much really happened, but the drama's coming soon, I promise.  
The next update for this will be on June 18th.  
Wow, I made a lot of references in this one. There were references to Sonny and Chad's past in this little trilogy I've somehow managed to write, a few from "With a Chance of Dating," from "Promises Prom-misses" and even one from the movie _17 Again_. It's actually kind of funny because the reference from _17 Again_ is actually one of Sterling's lines in the movie. It's about how he has "tummy issues." And if you look almost right above this to the last sentence, there's the reference. Haha. Yeah, I don't know, I thought it was funny when I threw it in...  
Anyway, thanks for reading and bearing with me on this incredibly long break I've had to take from writing and updating. Trust me, it's been nothing short of sheer torture for me too. So, please review and stay patient for just a little while longer.  
However, even though I won't update this until the 18th, I'll be updating _It's Harder Than It Looks_ on the 15th, the day of my returnal. Yay! All of the information of when I'm updating what is on my profile so if you're insanely curious, check it out.  
Okay, I think I'm done talking now. Again, please review, and thanks for reading. Bye! :)**


	4. I Don't Know Yet

**Here's chapter four. Enjoy. :)**

Chapter Four: I Don't Know Yet

One week. One agonizingly long week of indecision. I'd had a week to make my decision and it had passed by without anything being resolved. And what was worse was that I was getting the feeling that by _not_ being able to decide, I was hurting everyone's feelings. Great… Now I felt guilty 24/7 too.

"And cut! Great job everyone!" Chris yelled out happily. We'd finally gotten through a scene without any interruptions. Cell phones were the bane of Chris' existence.

"Mail," Josh stated lifelessly, wheeling the cart onto the set.

"Is there anything for me?" Portlyn asked hopefully.

"No, just for Sonny."

"I'm out of here." Portlyn turned on her heel and made a beeline to the meditation room.

"For me?" I stepped closer to the cart and saw a giant gift basket sitting in the center of the cart with tons of tissue paper, candles, chocolate, and a couple of DVDs sticking out. Discreetly, I crossed my fingers behind my back. _Please don't be for me. Please don't be for me._

"For you," Josh said, lifting said basket out of the cart and holding it out for me to take.

My cheeks turned pink as I took it awkwardly and then scarlet when I read who it was from on the outside of the card. Oh shoot.

"Who's it from?" Joanna questioned curiously, following on my heels as I walked it over to a nearby fold out table.

"Umm… I don't know yet."

"Huh. Must be from a fan," Chad observed after taking a look at it when I set it down on the table.

_I wish_, I thought dryly.

The card felt like a lead weight in my hands as I flipped it over, careful to cover up the _So Random_ logo on the back with my fingers. It read:

_Sonny, _

_We all miss you and know that no matter what you'll make the right choice. Here are a few gifts to make it up for kicking you off the show. _

_Love,  
__Your friends at _So Random

_P.S. Watch us on Santiago Heraldo tonight at seven for your other special surprise. :)_

I was such a softie that just this little note had me wanting to go "aww." I wondered what they meant by my other "special surprise." Did they mean their public apology?

As touched as I was though, I could feel six pairs of eyes burning several holes into my skull from all angles. _This ought to be good._

"What does it say?" Tanner questioned, more impatiently this time.

"Yeah, read the card," Mike said through a mouthful of chocolate that I realized after a slight brain delay was from the gift basket I'd just gotten.

Joanna must've realized the same thing because she smacked Mike on the arm and snatched the rest out of his hands.

"Umm… well, it's from my friends at… at _So Random_. This is just their apology gift, I guess." I shrugged it off, hoping they'd drop it.

Samantha looked at the basket and shook her head disapprovingly. "Psh. That's nothing. After what they did to you, they should be making like, a _public_ apology."

"Uh, they kind of are…" The words came out before I could even think about what the consequences may be. In one sense, I wished immediately I hadn't said it, but in another, they were still my friends and they really were trying to make it up to me. My _So Random_ friends still deserved to have my loyalty in that sense anyway.

"Oh."

About five seconds of awkward silence passed before Chad had to force a smile. "Well, isn't that nice of them to do that for Sonny?"

"Oh, yes."

"Very."

"It is nice of them."

"Sure."

"I'm hungry."

_**Later during lunch…**_

Chad and I were on a wooden bench in the more secluded part of the park so that we couldn't get swarmed by any fans. You'd be surprised at how, um, _protective_ Chad's girl fans were.

"So… How'd you think I'd look as a blond?" I asked randomly. I took a bite of the tacos we'd picked up from the Commissary before we went to the park. I still refused to eat in the Commissary and have to choose a table and a set of friends to sit with.

Chad wrinkled his nose and looked at my hair critically. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you look very good blond."

Frowning, I chewed that over thoughtfully. "But you've never seen me as a blond, so how could you make that judgment?"

He shook his head and had to swallow the monstrous bite he'd just taken before he could talk again. "Nuh-uh. I _have_ seen you as a blond. For that one sketch, you wore a blond wig. You know, that one you did right before I had to save you and pretend to be your number one fan."

"Oh yeah… Well that doesn't count because that was a cheap wig. And besides, I'm not talking super platinum blond. I'm talking more like… Well, your color."

Chad shook his head. "No, I just still can't see it. Besides, brunettes are _so_ much prettier, Sonny."

"I don't know…" I shifted my body around so I was facing Chad instead of the trees. "I always thought that blonds were pretty good looking too."

"Yes, but-"

A high pitched scream coming from a girl five feet away made us both look up in alarm to find _three_ girls close to Zora's age staring at us in amazement.

"Oh no," we both muttered simultaneously.

"Think it's too late to make a break for it?" Chad asked quietly. "They are wearing heels."

"Are you kidding?" I couldn't help but respond incredulously (and quietly). "You've never seen Tawni run in heels? Heck, I've even seen Portlyn run in heels. They'd catch us for sure. _You'd _probably be tackled to the ground."

Chad gave me a look. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he whispered sarcastically.

"Welcome."

We faced forward, put on as-real-looking-as-fake-can-get smiles, and stood up, ready to face our fans.

"Oh my goodness! You're Sonny Munroe! And you're…" The little blond-haired girl had to catch her breath before she pointed at Chad with one shaky finger. "Chad Dylan Cooper."

"Hi," I said warmly.

"Hey." Chad held up one hand in greeting.

The girl sighed and dropped straight to the ground, sprawled out by her friends' feet.

"Oh. Is she okay?" I asked, looking worriedly down at her. Well this was a first.

One of the girl's friends with red hair waved her hand dismissively through the air. "Oh yeah, she's fine. Jenny does that a lot, actually. Hi, I'm, Macy." She stepped over Jenny's legs to get closer to us.

"And I'm Lucille," the other girl said eagerly.

"Hi," Chad said.

"Well, hi, girls. It's nice to meet you." I smiled genuinely at them. They seemed so sweet.

Lucille's green eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my… Are you two dating?" She pointed a tan finger to our hands.

Jenny had started to get up, but when she heard Lucille's question she collapsed again on the soft (hopefully) grass.

Chad and I realized too late that we'd been holding hands out of habit.

_Well, maybe they won't tell anyone…_ I thought, without much hope.

We both looked at each other and started laughing, to distract them from their question.

I dropped his hand and stepped forward. "Wow, you girls are really sweet."

The distraction worked, as far as I could tell, because then they had us signing things and even took a picture with us. We thought we were safe after that until Lucille, the observant one of the three, noticed something else I didn't want to discuss.

"Hey, you're wearing a _Mackenzie Falls_ uniform!" Lucille exclaimed, clapping her autographed hand to her heart.

I looked down at my _Mackenzie Falls_ uniform, silently yelling at myself for not putting something else on before we came out here for lunch. Another cover-up had to be used, this time, in the form of a cheesy smile.

"We saw you guest star as Katie for the first time on _Mackenzie Falls_ last night, but why are you still wearing the uniform? Are you filming more episodes?" Macy asked over-curiously.

"Well… Uh, kind of…" I half-admitted with an anxious look on my face.

"But you're still filming _So Random_ though, right?" Lucille questioned worriedly.

"Umm… not really… for now…"

After being shot a desperate, "help me!" look Chad clapped his hands once and started backing up. "Well, we should probably be going now, girls."

"Wait, which show are you really on?"

"Well, I'm kind of between shows, for now…" I shrugged helplessly, still backing up with Chad towards the bench to grab our things.

"I like you better on _Mackenzie Falls_!" Macy blurted.

"Are you kidding? She's way better on _So Random_!" Lucille argued back.

While Lucille and Macy argued about me _in front of me_, Jenny suddenly rose up to a sitting position and grinned. "I like you on both shows."

"Thanks," I said gratefully and swiftly before Chad and I made our escape. "Bye!"

"See ya!" Chad called.

When we were finally back, safe and sound and away from fans on set, Chad turned to me, questioningly. He didn't need to say anything, because I already knew that he was asking if I was okay after all that. Alright, the over-protectiveness was cute the first few times, but now it was just getting annoying.

"What?" It came out kind of snippily after he continued staring at me for several more seconds.

"Hey, Sonny, can I borrow your hat?" Tanner asked, suddenly, approaching us. He twirled my blue hat around on his finger. It was the same hat I'd used to hide a camera underneath to catch Chad in his lie about me being the diva with an attitude as opposed to the other way around (at the time). That was before we were dating of course. Ah, good times, good times…

"Uh, sure…" I raised an eyebrow. "But, why do you…?"

"Oh, I'm playing a prank on Mike tomorrow involving a hidden camera and I need your hat," Tanner explained in a secretive whisper despite the fact we were the only three around.

"Nice…"

_**Later…**_

At home, I sat in bed, toying with the TV remote thoughtfully, as I watched Santiago Heraldo sign off for the night and all of my friends from _So Random_ wave at the camera. They had indeed apologized as they'd promised. Remote aimed towards the TV set, I pressed my thumb into the red power button and shut it off.

_What to do, what to do?_ I glanced around the room, asking myself that question repeatedly. My eyes landed on a framed picture of Lucy and I standing outside of Lucy's house giving each other rabbit ears.

Of course! Why hadn't I thought of it before?

I fished my cell phone out of my pocket and rushed through dialing the number from my memory. All I could hear after that was the phone ringing and my impatient fingers drumming against my thigh. Then the person finally picked up.

"Sonny?"

"Hi, Lucy."


	5. I've Made My Decision

Chapter Five: I've Made My Decision

"Sonny?"

"Hi, Lucy."

"Sonny! I'm so happy you called! So what's up? What's going on at the Falls? You haven't called me for forever." I could hear the smile in Lucy's voice through the phone. Same old Lucy.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, Luce. Things have just been pretty… crazy…" That was putting it lightly.

"Ooh, tell all. What's the drama? Is this about Chad again?" she asked curiously.

"No, this problem is way bigger."

"Well?"

"_So Random_ wants me to come back to the show," I said with desperation leaking into my tone.

There was a loud thud, an "ouch," and close to hysterical laughter to be heard from the other end of the phone.

"Lucy? What happened?" I asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing, I just fell off my chair. But seriously, that is… _wow_. I can't believe they would just turn around and want you back like that," Lucy said, awed.

"I know. And _now_ I have to-"

"Sonny, could you hold that thought for a minute?" she asked me sweetly.

"Sure."

"Thanks. _Ryan, stop laughing! It wasn't that funny! I'm on the phone, knucklehead!_" Lucy yelled in a far away voice at her brother. "Sorry, Ryan's being a pain," she said in her normal, sweet voice.

"Ah, yes, how is Ryan? Has he changed any?" I fell backwards onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Huh. It could use a paint job.

"Not really. He's still as annoying as ever. He'd like to think that he's a 'girl magnet' now, though, since he got his braces off and finally ditched those monstrous glasses he used to call 'cool.' But enough about Ryan. Continue with all the drama talk."

"Well, _now_ I have to decide between staying on _Mackenzie Falls_ and going back to _So Random_. And I only have three weeks left to choose!" Rolling over onto my stomach, I kicked off my shoes and let them thump onto the red carpet below.

"Yikes. That's rough. Which show are you leaning towards?" Lucy asked thoughtfully. I could tell by her voice she was probably doing something else, like painting her nails while we were talking. She was a big multi-tasker. She just wasn't a very good one.

"I don't know. I love them both, and I love both sets of friends equally. Ugh… Help me?"

"Hmm… Well, if I were you, I'd pick _So Random_," Lucy stated matter-of-factly. "Hey what's a ten-letter word for 'misery'?" she inquired thoughtfully.

"Depression," I said hurriedly. "So, you'd really pick _So Random_? Seriously? How come?" My body was suddenly upright in bed, my feet swinging impatiently for her answer.

"Ooh, you're good at that!" Lucy said appreciatively. "How about a six-letter word for happy." The sound of a pen tapping against paper filled my ear.

"Luce, could we focus here? I'm desperate for an answer to my solution! And the word is 'joyful,'" I added at the last minute.

"Thought so…" There was five seconds of silence while she scribbled down the answer onto her crossword. Finally she sighed contentedly. "Alright, so here's why. You dreamed about _So Random_ for so long. We used to do a web show with some of the funniest gags on the internet that will _never_ die. One night, we got more hits than _iCarly_."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that night. That was also the night Maxine and I decided to handcuff you to Ryan as a prank on the show." I laughed at the memory so hard I snorted a couple times. "And then… and then we lost the key to your dog, Piggy, and had to wait until the key… _reappeared_ the next morning…" I said, gasping for air after my laughing fit.

"Yeah, hysterical," Lucy said sarcastically.

The purpose for my reminiscent sigh was to tease Lucy more. "No one else can claim to have had a slumber party quite like that."

"Okay, enough of that topic. My point was that you _love_ doing comedy, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well then you belong on _So Random_!" Lucy exclaimed. "And furthermore… _What?_"

The sudden sound of her shouting in my ear made me jump a little. "I didn't say anything," I said, giving the phone pressed against my ear a weird look as though Lucy could see me.

"Oh no, I wasn't talking to you. Ryan is bugging me again. _Go away!_" she shouted.

I held my phone away from my ear a little for fear of bursting an eardrum.

"_Just let me talk to her!" Ryan shouted back loudly enough for me to hear him through the phone. _

"_She is not _your_ best friend, she's mine! _Sonny, be glad you're an only child," Lucy said, exasperated.

"_She may not be my _best_ friend, but I still want to talk to her! Stop being a control freak!"_

I held the phone even farther away from my ear as I could hear the telltale sounds of them wrestling for the phone. Lucy and Ryan had only one thing in common, and that was their birthday. Other than that, they fought worse than any twins I'd ever met. And I'd met more pairs of twins than you'd think.

"_Ha! In your face, sucker!_ Hey, Sonny, how's Hollywood?" Ryan asked smoothly.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, I had to fight back a laugh. "It's going okay." Inspiration hit me and I smiled. "But hey, I need your opinion. Do you think I should act in _So Random_ or _Mackenzie Falls_?"

"But I thought you were on _So Random_," Ryan said thoughtfully.

In the background I could hear an incessant pounding and then Lucy's voice yelling faintly: "Ryan, come out of the bathroom right now! She's _my_ friend!"

Both of us ignored Lucy's complaints and continued talking.

"Well, I was until they kicked me off for reasons that take way too long to explain. So then my boyfriend offered me a job on _Mackenzie Falls_ and that's what I've been working on, but now they want me back, so now I need you…" I trailed off when I saw something sticking out from under my bed. Leaning over, I plucked it off the ground and wrinkled my eyebrows. _Hmm, that's weird. I thought I returned Chad's shirt from when I borrowed it that one time. Guess not. Whoops. _

"You need me?"

"Huh? Oh no, I meant that I need you to tell me which show you think I should choose," I corrected absentmindedly.

"Oh." My brain must have been playing tricks on me because he actually sounded disappointed. "Well, I guess you should choose _Mackenzie Falls_," Ryan offered reluctantly.

"Reason," I stated.

"Well… you said your boyfriend is on that show, and if I were him, I'd want you to be on the same show as me."

That got my attention. "Really?"

"Yep, but that's just me. Besides, surely it must be little more fun wearing something other than teapots and fat suits every week to work," Ryan said.

"_Ryan don't you dare tell her to join _Mackenzie Falls_! Ryan! Mom!" Lucy yelled. _

"So that's really what you think?" I checked. I didn't know how long it would be before I could get another unbiased guy to give me advice from… well, a guy's perspective.

"Yeah."

"_Ryan!"_ It sounded like Mrs. Lindsey decided to step in after all.

"Gotta go! Talk to you later, Sonny." Ryan hurriedly hung up the phone leaving me to ponder the advice I'd just been given. Once again, I was torn between a best friend's expert opinion, and an actual guy's expert opinion.

I smashed a pillow onto my face and screamed, kicking my legs in frustration. Life didn't like me during that time period. Unless of course that was all just payback for forgetting to feed my goldfish when I was ten…

_**The next day…**_

I woke up in a bad mood. My sleep had not been dreamless… unfortunately.

In my dream, I'd been in this big room with practically everyone I knew and was friends with surrounding me, all asking me who I chose. Then I'd actually opened my mouth and said: "Okay, I've made my decision. I choose…" And then I woke up. When a person can't even be happy in their dreams, then you _know_ it's bad.

But my day just kept on getting worse from there when I got to work.

"Sonny, Sonny, Sonny, Sonny!" Joanna yelled, scuttling across the set in high heels.

I looked up from my script in time to move out of the way from becoming road kill under Joanna's shoes. "Whoa, what is it, Joanna?"

"Go… to… the… computer…!" Joanna gasped out, pointing to my laptop sitting nearby.

"Why, what's wrong?" I asked, concernedly.

"Channy…" was all she muttered before she shoved me across the floor to my computer. She typed in the web address for Sharona's site and stepped out of the way so I could read the article that was featured on the home page. Uh oh…

My stomach twisted in knots when I saw the picture of Chad and I posing together at an awards show. Oh boy.

The article read:

_Dear readers,_

_Listen hard and listen well because your favorite Sharona has got the all important deets on the hottest new couple. Or, then again, a maybe _not so hot_ couple. _

_Recently, three unknown mystery sources with squeaky little voices gave Sharona the exclusive on two hot celebrities whose relationship has been under wraps for who knows how long without their fans knowing. _

_Just remember, kiddies, you heard it here practically first (My assistant Monkey is _so_ fired!). Bad boy Chad Dylan Cooper from our favorite drama show, _Mackenzie Falls_, and sweetheart Sonny Munroe from the hysterical sketch comedy, _So Random_, are dating! They're an item, a couple, a thing, no longer on the market. Catchin' my drift? _

_But as cute as they clearly are together just based off of a picture snapped of the two when they _weren't _together (as far as Sharona knows) at an awards show, not everyone is particularly pleased with Hollywood's newest couple of the moment. _

Whassup? _online gave you the first-first scoop on the two cuties and here are a few of the comments some of 'yall left them:_

_ChortlynFOREVER writes: _"NO!!!!!1!!!!! This can't be happening!!! Sunny's not good enough for Chad!!1! Plaese say it ain't so!! Chad and Portlyn are ment to be! Not him and that wannabe actress from the internet!

_Aubrey writes: _"Shut it ChortlynFOREVER! They're normal people with normal lives and they can date whoever they want! CHANNY forever!"

_Lisa_hearts_Twilight writes: _"Sharona, stop writing about these two and write about more interesting celebs like Taylor, Robert, and Kristen."

_FutureMissusCooper writes: _"Sunny Monroe, I've got six words for you. STAY AWAY FROM MY MAN!"

_YouraverageallAmericanGirl writes: _"Holy crow! Sonny and Chad! Ich! Sonny is wa-ay too nice for a jerk-throb like the 'Center for Disease Control.' Sonny, if you ever read this, DUMP HIM and STOP SELLING OUT!"

_Tater tots writes: "_Geez guys. Chill out. They're adorable together."

_Hopelessly Confused 4ever writes: _"Uh, FutureMissusCooper, isn't that five words? Chad and Sonny = True Luv. :)"

_Well there are some mixed reactions if I've ever seen them. And those were just a _few _of the comments some of the guys and gals left about them. I left out the harsher ones for pretty obvious reasons. Sharona writes for the whole family. _

_Now I will give you _my_ opinion on the Channy (Chad and Sonny. Keep up peeps!) issue. Sharona gives the lovebirds the stamp of UNAPPROVAL. Sorry guys, but that's the direction the cookie is crumbling in Sharona's eyes. _

_Not to go all creepy psychic on you all but I do not see them lasting long at all. Trust me; opposites will not stay attracted in these two stars' cases. I give them another month, tops. _

_That's all the star news for now. Leave Sharona a comment at the bottom of this post and tell me what you think about the used-to-be-rivals' new relationship. _

_Sharona_

After having to have Joanna push my mouth shut again, all I could utter were the words: "'another month, tops'?"

**Thanks for reading! More soon! :)**

**--UPDATE - April 29, 2010--  
I'm so sorry, but this is now on permanent hiatus.  
If you want to know what she finally chooses and why, PM me and I'll tell you.  
Thank you for reading. :-)**


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